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LONDON: The ICC World Twenty20 tournament is kicking off today with England to be facing the Netherlands in the opening match at Lords.England are feeling positive ahead of their first Group B match following a convincing win over the West Indies in a warm up game on Wednesday.Captain Paul Collingwood said, "We know we're going to have to play to our absolute potential to get to those semi-finals, but there's a lot of confidence around at the moment and it's all good - there's a real feelgood factor in the team."England will look to improve their record in the limited overs tournament after only winning one game in the inaugural cup in South Africa two years ago.India are favourites to win and they face Bangladesh in Group A on Saturday.The group stages are made up of the top 12 cricket-playing nations in four groups of three.The top two from each group go through to the Super Eights made up of two groups of four.The semi-finals consist of the top two teams i...

SAN JOSE: American goalkeeper Tim Howard shouts as the ball bounces into his netCosta Rica outclassed the United States 3-1 in their World Cup qualifier to go top of the final stage.Striker Alvaro Saborio set the Ticos on their way on the Saprissa stadium's frayed artificial pitch in the first minute with a 25-metre shot, which dipped over goalkeeper Tim Howard. The hosts doubled their lead before the quarter-hour mark when a sweeping move down the left ended with Celso Borges side-footing the ball into an empty net. The US, unbeaten in their opening three games in the group, never looked like finding a way back and nearly went further behind when Howard tipped away Saborio's header. With Costa Rica being roared on by a crowd of 20,000 Saborio had another chance before halftime but fired his snapshot over the bar. Substitute Pablo Herrera buried the visitors in the 69th minute when he collected the ball nearly the touchline, twisted past his marker and beat Howard at his near ...

PARIS: PARIS: Maria Sharapova suffered one of the worst defeats of her career when she was beaten 6-0, 6-2 by Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova in her quarter-final match against Dominika Cibulkova at the French Open. It was the former world number one's heaviest loss since she went down 6-1, 6-1 to Serena Williams in the fourth round in Miami in 2007. Cibulkova, the 20th seed, will now will face top seed Dinara Safina, who earlier put out Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, for a place in the final.

LONDON: Another member of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's cabinet, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears, said she was resigning Wednesday, making her the fourth to go in 24 hours.Blears said she was stepping down so she could "return to the grassroots" and "help the Labour Party reconnect with the British people" in a statement. "Today I have told the prime minister that I am resigning from the government," she said.The move comes the day before Thursday's elections for the European Parliament and 34 English local councils and amid a rumbling row over MPs' expenses which has badly hit Brown's popularity ratings. It came after Home Secretary Jacqui Smith's aides briefed reporters she would also step down. Cabinet Office minister Tom Watson and children's minister Beverley Hughes are also reportedly stepping down.A reshuffle is expected to take place as early as Friday as he bids to re-launch his premiership and finance minister A...

Thursday, June 04, 2009 LONDON: A court jailed an Indian man and two women Wednesday for providing fake degrees and identities to hundreds of immigrants, in what prosecutors said was the biggest visa scam ever seen in Britain.A judge sentenced Jatinder Kumar Sharma to seven years behind bars and Rakhi Shahi to eight years for orchestrating the fraud factory that allowed Indian and Pakistani nationals to study and work in Britain.Another woman, Neelam Sharma, was given a four-year jail term after being convicted of handling some of the hundreds of thousands of pounds that poured into the business in Southall, west London.Jatinda Sharma has been married to Neelam Sharma for nearly 20 years, although a marriage certificate appeared to show he also recently wed Shahi. All three lived together in Southall.Police suspect the business secured visas for almost 1,000 immigrants over two years, Isleworth Crown Court west of London heard, providing them with fake degree certificates, tax and wage...

Thursday, June 04, 2009 NEW DELHI: The Indian Lok Sabha speaker said that she would be a neutral person.She said she was starting her assignment on a "positive note" and thanked them for assuring her of their “undiluted" support in running the House.‘It will be my endeavour that I am completely impartial in my conduct and I will give opportunity to all the members to express their views. There should be healthy, meaningful debate in the house," she assured the lawmakers.

Thursday, June 04, 2009 WASHIGNTON: Pressing Pakistan to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice; the United States says it wants to make sure that Islamabad is acting aggressively against extremist elements within its borders.“Well, we continue to impress upon the Government of Pakistan the importance of bringing the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice,” Assistant Secretary of State, Philip J. Crowley told reporters. “We believe the Government of Pakistan should continue its investigation to ensure that all those who are responsible for the attack are, in fact, brought to justice,” he said.The US, he said, recognises that Pakistan military action in the Swat area has created a significant impact on the ground with roughly 2.5 million displaced persons. “And we along with other countries are trying to make sure that we can help build capacity within the Pakistan Government to be able to support its population during this difficult time.” Asked if the issue ter...

Thursday, June 04, 2009 CAIRO: US President Barack Obama said on Thursday that the nuclear showdown with Iran had reached a decisive point but that Tehran had the right to peaceful nuclear power if it abided by international treaties.Obama, who broke with former US policy of isolating Tehran, said it would be hard to "overcome decades of mistrust" but he had made clear to Iran's leaders and people that the United States was prepared to move forward in relations with Iran."But it is clear to all concerned that when it comes to nuclear weapons we have reached a decisive point."This is not simply about America's interests. It is about preventing a nuclear arms race in the Middle East that could lead this region and the world down a hugely dangerous path."In an apparent reference to Israel, believed to be only nuclear-armed power in the Middle East, Obama said he understood protests "that some countries have weapons that others do not."He added th...

Thursday, June 04, 2009 CAIRO: US President Barack Obama said on Thursday that the US bond with Israel is "unbreakable," in a much-anticipated speech aimed at healing America's rift with the Islamic world."America's strong bonds with Israel are well known," Obama told the world's Muslims in a speech from Cairo University. "This bond is unbreakable.""It is based upon cultural and historical ties, and the recognition that the aspiration for a Jewish homeland is rooted in a tragic history that cannot be denied," said Obama, who is to head to Germany's Buchenwald concentration camp after Egypt.He said that denying the Holocaust is "baseless, ignorant, and hateful."

Thursday, June 04, 2009 SANDIAGO: Approximately 100 teachers have been arrested in the Chilean capital as they attempted to march to the government palace to demand payment of a compensation bonus.Anti-riot police fired water cannons and tear gas to disperse the teachers, who have been on strike for three weeks over the payment of a bonus that amounts to nearly US$2000.The conflict originated after the breakdown of negotiations between the teachers' union and the government regarding how the bonus would be paid.The strike involves some 80,000 public school teachers.Approximately 1 million primary and middle school students have been affected by the strike.

Friday, June 05, 2009 CHICAGO: For eight years, US Muslims cringed at the rhetoric coming out of the White House and the divisions created at home and abroad by terms like "Islamo-fascism" and "Islamic terrorists." On Thursday, many here breathed a sigh of relief at the major shift marked by President Barack Obama's call for a new beginning with the Muslim world in a much-anticipated Cairo speech. "The speech has done more to undermine Al-Qaeda than anything (former president George W.) Bush did," said Ahmed Rehad, executive director of the Chicago branch of the Council on American Islamic Relations. "The greatest fodder Al-Qaeda had in the past was to say, 'the US hates you.'"There is a power to language, Rehad said. But Obama's speech contained more than just promising rhetoric and a shift from cowboy diplomacy to a display of "humility" and respect. Obama also offered concrete plans to work with the Muslim world to fi...

June 05, 2009 NEW DELHI: India’s first female parliament speaker on Wednesday said the independence achieved in 1947 had remained ‘meaningless’ for a majority of the Indian population.Speaking shortly after being sworn-in, Meira Kumar, a Dalit leader, hit back at the ruling Congress, saying the independence had only been a political freedom, as it has provided nothing to the minorities and lower castes in India. She said the independence would be meaningful to the deprived only when “we raise their living standard, resolve poverty crisis, provide them food, clothing and housing, opportunities for all-round progress and free them from exploitation, injustice and torture”.Service: In her address after her unopposed election as speaker, Meira said she would rise above politics and serve the nation. Answering female parliamentarians’ on what initiative she would take to empower women in politics, she said she hoped that all parties arrive at a consensus on this issue, since it has remained...